4/20/07

Refugee plan 'against international law

The government's plan to swap Australia-bound asylum seekers with those trying to enter the United States breaches international law, one of the world's leading human rights advocacy groups says.

Under plans outlined earlier this week, Cuban and Haitian refugees held at Guantanamo Bay could be resettled in Australia, while asylum seekers intercepted en route to Australia and sent to Nauru would be resettled in the United States.

Immigration Minister Kevin Andrews claims the move would be a further deterrent to people smugglers.

Pacific Media Centre

Scoop Pacific

bilaterals.org

Aotearoa IMC - Newswire

"Australia and NZ remained unrepentant for their brutal suppression of indigenous independence movements in the Pacific. They rationalized such behavior as enhancing the welfare of the Islands and the human development of their people – just as they justified similar behavior towards indigenous peoples in their own countries"